Govt ready for talks, can amend farm laws if needed: Rajnath

And due to this confidence farmers haveachieved a record production, Singh said.In 2017, the prime minister had vowed to doublefarmers income by 2022.

The Union government is readyto discuss the new agriculture laws with farmers' leaders withan open mind and even to amend them if necessary, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh said here on Thursday.

The new laws are aimed at doubling farmers' income,Singh said, speaking at a function to inaugurate thousands ofsmall-scale irrigation projects in Madhya Pradesh.

Singh's statement follows Prime Minister NarendraModi's fresh appeal to protesting farmers on Wednesday to comeforward for talks and the assurance that the government isopen to amending the laws if there are any shortcomings.

''We are ready to talk with an open mind on farm lawsand if needed even make amendments to them. As a result of ourgovernment's decisions, a new confidence is being built amongcommon farmers. And due to this (confidence) farmers haveachieved a record production,'' Singh said.

''In 2017, the prime minister had vowed to doublefarmers' income by 2022. This was not an easy resolve....against the backdrop of this, the three farm laws wereenacted last year,'' he said.

The new laws aim at fetching fair price for farmers'produce and give them liberty to sell it wherever they wish,the Union minister further said.

But ''people with vested interests'' created confusionover the three laws, spreading misconceptions such as marketsrun by Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees and MinimumSupport Prices (MSP) will be abolished and farmers' lands willbe mortgaged, Singh alleged.

The prime minister had stated categorically inParliament that neither any APMC Mandi has closed after thenew laws came into force, nor has the MSP regime ended, hesaid, adding that rather the MSP has increased.

Under the new laws, agricultural produce will be upfor sale and not the land, the Union minister stressed.

Saying that Mahatma Gandhi considered villages as thesoul of India, Singh said development of rural areas wasthe government's priority.